Book Logging
Aug. 29th, 2013 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckDoctor Who, Series 2, volume 1: The Ripper - This graphic novel was fairly amusing. It has two stories, one short and the other longer. The first story involves spam e-mail taking on physical form. The second has the Doctor and his companions getting involved in the investigation into Jack the Ripper's murders. I didn't care for the art-- I had some trouble identifying Rory, for example. The library has promised to order the remaining volumes in this series, and we'll read them when they appear.
Peck, Richard. A Long Way from Chicago - This is a companion volume to A Year Down Yonder. It comes first, chronologically. It's episodic, following the narrator and his younger sister from year to year as they spend a little bit of each summer visiting their grandmother. Their grandmother is a larger than life character who's always up to something and seldom explains what she's planning to her grandchildren. I quite enjoy this and look forward to the third book in the series.
Peck, Richard. A Season of Gifts - This is the third volume in the series that includes A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder. I seem to recall that it's set in 1958 while the other books were set in the 1930s. This one follows a minister's family that moves in next door to the grandmother from the other two books. It's told from the point of view of the minister's son and middle child. The years haven't slowed the grandmother down any, and she still has her way of managing other people's business.
I started quite a few books that I didn't finish this time, mostly mysteries. I'm trying to focus on getting through the mysteries the library owns that I've flagged as potentially interesting (mostly due to Amazon or GoodReads recommendations). I'm very, very picky about mysteries, however, so I won't finish nine out of ten of them.
Barnhill, Kelly Regan. Iron Hearted Violet - I just didn't click with this book. I read three or four chapters and still felt at a remove from the characters. The story is narrated in first person by a character not directly involved in most of the action. I found that distracting and distancing.
Carlisle, Kate. Murder Under Cover - I read the first mystery in this series about a year and a half ago. It was only okay, but I finished it, so I thought I'd give another one by this author a try. I bounced off this one in just a couple of chapters, unfortunately. The rare book angle wasn't enough to compel me to read further.
McKinlay, Jenn. Sprinkle with Murder - This mystery centers on a cupcake bakery. I only read a couple of chapters. I think I'm simply not in the mood for mysteries. I lose patience with them really quickly, and I like so few of them. Still I'm following Amazon and GoodReads recommendations. There's got to be something in there that will work for me, right?
Miller, Kirsten. Kiki Strike: the Darkness Dwellers - I really thought I'd finish this one because I liked earlier books in the series. I just kept not getting back to it, and after renewing it twice, I think it's time for me to give up on it. What I read of it seemed on par with the earlier books in the series, so if you liked them, you'll probably like this one.
Penny, Louise. The Brutal Telling - I rather liked the style of this one, but something felt off. I peeked ahead, and I don't think the author's playing fair. There were bits from a particular character's point of view that elided things he did and had him not thinking about things he definitely knew. I decided that I wasn't going to spend my time on it.
Quartey, Kwei J. Wife of the Gods - Sometimes I wonder why I keep trying mysteries. I dislike most of them and can't get more than a few chapters in. I hoped this one might work for me since it's set in a place I know little to nothing about. That can carry me through a mystery that otherwise doesn't work for me. In this case, though, it wasn't enough.
Robins, Madeleine. Point of Honour - I thought for a while that I was going to make it through this one. I liked the style and the characters. I just put the book down and never picked it up again. Perhaps I'll try it again later when I'm more likely to finish it.
Swanson, Denise. Murder of a Creped Suzette - Eh. The style of this one was okay, but it didn't really appeal to me. I didn't feel comfortable in the story or interested in the characters.
Upson, Nicola. Two for Sorrow - This mystery has author Josephine Tey as a character. GoodReads recommended it to me. I read bits, here and there, and just couldn't get into it. It seemed too grim to me.
Zama, Farahad. The Wedding Wallah - This was an interlibrary loan book, and I simply ran out of time to read it. My own fault, really-- I should have buckled down to read it. I quite liked The Marriage Bureau for Rich People, the book this is a sequel to. (There seems to be a book in between the two, but no library in our interlibrary loan network owns it, so I can't get my hands on it.)
Peck, Richard. A Long Way from Chicago - This is a companion volume to A Year Down Yonder. It comes first, chronologically. It's episodic, following the narrator and his younger sister from year to year as they spend a little bit of each summer visiting their grandmother. Their grandmother is a larger than life character who's always up to something and seldom explains what she's planning to her grandchildren. I quite enjoy this and look forward to the third book in the series.
Peck, Richard. A Season of Gifts - This is the third volume in the series that includes A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder. I seem to recall that it's set in 1958 while the other books were set in the 1930s. This one follows a minister's family that moves in next door to the grandmother from the other two books. It's told from the point of view of the minister's son and middle child. The years haven't slowed the grandmother down any, and she still has her way of managing other people's business.
I started quite a few books that I didn't finish this time, mostly mysteries. I'm trying to focus on getting through the mysteries the library owns that I've flagged as potentially interesting (mostly due to Amazon or GoodReads recommendations). I'm very, very picky about mysteries, however, so I won't finish nine out of ten of them.
Barnhill, Kelly Regan. Iron Hearted Violet - I just didn't click with this book. I read three or four chapters and still felt at a remove from the characters. The story is narrated in first person by a character not directly involved in most of the action. I found that distracting and distancing.
Carlisle, Kate. Murder Under Cover - I read the first mystery in this series about a year and a half ago. It was only okay, but I finished it, so I thought I'd give another one by this author a try. I bounced off this one in just a couple of chapters, unfortunately. The rare book angle wasn't enough to compel me to read further.
McKinlay, Jenn. Sprinkle with Murder - This mystery centers on a cupcake bakery. I only read a couple of chapters. I think I'm simply not in the mood for mysteries. I lose patience with them really quickly, and I like so few of them. Still I'm following Amazon and GoodReads recommendations. There's got to be something in there that will work for me, right?
Miller, Kirsten. Kiki Strike: the Darkness Dwellers - I really thought I'd finish this one because I liked earlier books in the series. I just kept not getting back to it, and after renewing it twice, I think it's time for me to give up on it. What I read of it seemed on par with the earlier books in the series, so if you liked them, you'll probably like this one.
Penny, Louise. The Brutal Telling - I rather liked the style of this one, but something felt off. I peeked ahead, and I don't think the author's playing fair. There were bits from a particular character's point of view that elided things he did and had him not thinking about things he definitely knew. I decided that I wasn't going to spend my time on it.
Quartey, Kwei J. Wife of the Gods - Sometimes I wonder why I keep trying mysteries. I dislike most of them and can't get more than a few chapters in. I hoped this one might work for me since it's set in a place I know little to nothing about. That can carry me through a mystery that otherwise doesn't work for me. In this case, though, it wasn't enough.
Robins, Madeleine. Point of Honour - I thought for a while that I was going to make it through this one. I liked the style and the characters. I just put the book down and never picked it up again. Perhaps I'll try it again later when I'm more likely to finish it.
Swanson, Denise. Murder of a Creped Suzette - Eh. The style of this one was okay, but it didn't really appeal to me. I didn't feel comfortable in the story or interested in the characters.
Upson, Nicola. Two for Sorrow - This mystery has author Josephine Tey as a character. GoodReads recommended it to me. I read bits, here and there, and just couldn't get into it. It seemed too grim to me.
Zama, Farahad. The Wedding Wallah - This was an interlibrary loan book, and I simply ran out of time to read it. My own fault, really-- I should have buckled down to read it. I quite liked The Marriage Bureau for Rich People, the book this is a sequel to. (There seems to be a book in between the two, but no library in our interlibrary loan network owns it, so I can't get my hands on it.)
